Life Cycle Impact Assessment Method Research Articles

Fisheries Impact Pathway: Making Global and Regionalised Impacts on Marine Ecosystem Quality Accessible in Life Cycle Impact Assessment

Fisheries Impact Pathway: Making Global and Regionalised Impacts on Marine Ecosystem Quality Accessible in Life Cycle Impact Assessment

Enabling comprehensive assessment of marine eutrophication impacts and their evaluation against regional safe operating space

Abstract Purpose Nitrogen emissions from human activities are contributing to elevated levels of eutrophication in coastal ecosystems. Mechanisms involved in marine eutrophication show strong geographical variation. Existing life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) and absolute environmental sustainability assessment (AESA) methods for marine eutrophication do not adequately represent this variability, do not have a full global coverage, and suffer from other limitations, such as poor estimation of coastal residence times. This study aims to advance LCIA and AESA for marine eutrophication. Methods We aligned and combined recent advancements in marine eutrophication LCIA and AESA methods into one method. By re-running models underlying the combined methods and incorporating additional data sources, we included marine regions missing in previous methods and improved fate modeling, with the inclusion of denitrification and plant uptake in the air emission-terrestrial deposition pathway. To demonstrate and validate our method, we applied it in a case study. Results The developed method allows the assessment of marine eutrophication impacts from emissions to soil, freshwater, and air at high resolution (0.083° and 2° × 2.5° for inland and air emissions, respectively) and spatial coverage (all ice-free global continents). In the case study, we demonstrate the added value of our method by showing that the now quantified spatial variability within spatial units, e.g., river basins, can be large and have a strong influence on the modeled marine eutrophication from the case study. Compared to existing methods, our method identifies larger occupations of safe operating space for marine eutrophication, mainly due to the high resolution of the coastal compartment, reflecting a more realistic areal extent of marine eutrophication impacts. Conclusions Although limited by factors such as simulations based on a single reference year for modeling inland and air fate, our method is readily applicable to assess the marine eutrophication impact of nitrogen emitted to any environmental compartment and relate it to the safe operating space. With substantial advancement of existing approaches, our method improves the basis for decision-making for managing nitrogen and reducing emissions to levels within the safe operating space.

Considering Grouped or Individual Non-Methane Volatile Organic Compound Emissions in Life Cycle Assessment of Composting Using Three Life Cycle Impact Assessment Methods

Composting is a waste management practice that converts organic waste into a product that can be used safely and beneficially as a bio-fertiliser and soil amendment. Non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) from composting are known to cause damage to human health and the environment. The impact of waste management on the environment and workers is recognised as a growing environmental and public health concern. Measurements of NMVOCs emitted during composting have been carried out only in a few studies. NMVOC emissions are typically reported as a group rather than as species or speciation profiles. Recognising the need to investigate the issues associated with NMVOCs, the objective of this study is to estimate variation in life cycle assessment (LCA) results when NMVOCs are considered individual emissions compared to grouped emissions and to compare midpoint and endpoint life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods. In general, the ReCiPe 2016 LCIA method estimated the highest impact from the composting process in comparison to IMPACT World+ and EF 3.0 for the impact categories of ozone formation, stratospheric ozone depletion, and particulate matter formation. For ReCiPe 2016 and IMPACT World+, the NMVOC emissions were not linked to human toxicity characterisation factors, meaning that the contribution from NMVOC towards human health risks in and around composting facilities could be underestimated. Using individual NMVOCs helps to additionally estimate the impacts of composting on freshwater ecotoxicity and human carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic toxicity potential. If ecotoxicity or toxicity issues are indicated, then LCA should be accompanied by suitable risk assessment measures for the respective life cycle stage.

Dissipation-based life cycle impact assessment of mineral resource use—a review, case study, and implications for the product environmental footprint

Abstract Purpose Impacts of mineral resource use on the availability of resources can be assessed using a broad range of methods. Until recently, life cycle inventory (LCI) and life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) models have been based on resource extraction. As extracted resources are not necessarily “lost” for future use, recent methodological developments have shifted the focus from resource extraction to resource dissipation. This paper aims at reviewing dissipation-based LCIA methods, testing them in a case study, analyzing potential implications for the product environmental footprint (PEF), and providing recommendations for future method development. Method Five recently developed LCIA methods have been reviewed and compared based on 22 criteria, such as the forms and time horizons of dissipation considered, scientific publication, and number of characterization factors (CFs). Additionally, the abiotic depletion potential (ADP) method has been included to serve as a non-dissipation-based reference. All methods are tested in a case study on a theoretical product, designed solely for demonstration purposes, and consisting of 1 kg of the metals aluminum, cobalt, copper, molybdenum, nickel, and zinc. In addition to the absolute LCIA results, the contributions of metal production stages and individual resource extractions/emissions have been investigated. Finally, normalization and weighting have been carried out to analyze consequences of replacing ADP with the new dissipation-based methods in the context of PEF. Results and discussion Most recently developed LCIA methods take a long-term perspective, cover emissions of resources to the environment (and partly technosphere), and vary in the number of CFs and resources covered. The case study results obtained by ADP are dominated by the molybdenum dataset; the results of the dissipation-based LCIA methods are strongly influenced by the cobalt dataset. All results are strongly sensitive to the LCI database used (ecoinvent or GaBi). Normalization and weighting revealed that the mineral resource use impact result dominates the aggregated PEF score (57%), when using the currently recommended ADP model. Shifting from the resource extraction-based ADP to dissipation-based models can reduce the contribution to 23% or < 1% depending on the method. Conclusion The development of methods addressing mineral resource use in LCIA has shifted from resource extraction to dissipation. The analyzed methods are applicable and lead to different findings than the extraction-based ADP. Using the newly developed methods in the context of PEF would significantly change the relevance of the mineral resource use impact category in comparison to other environmental impacts.

Soil organic carbon as an indicator of land use impacts in life cycle assessment

Abstract Purpose Anthropogenic activities are a major driver of soil and land degradation. Due to the spatial heterogeneity of soil properties and the global nature of most value chains, the modelling of the impacts of land use on soil quality for application in life cycle assessment (LCA) requires a regionalised assessment with global coverage. This paper proposes an approach to quantify the impacts of land use on soil quality, using changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks as a proxy, following the latest recommendation of the Life Cycle Initiative. Methods An operational set of SOC-based characterisation factors for land occupation and land transformation were derived using spatial datasets (1 km resolution) and aggregated at the national and global levels. The developed characterisation factors were tested by means of a case study analysis, investigating the impact on soil quality caused by land use activities necessary to provide three alternative energy supply systems for passenger car transport (biomethane, ethanol, and solar electricity). Results obtained by applying characterisation factors at local, regional, and national levels were compared, to investigate the role of the level of regionalisation on the resulting impacts. Results and discussion Global maps of characterisation factors are presented for the 56 land use types commonly used in LCA databases, together with national and global values. Urban and industrial land uses present the highest impacts on SOC stocks, followed by severely degraded pastures and intensively managed arable lands. Instead, values obtained for extensive pastures, flooded crops, and urban green areas often report an increase in SOC stocks. Results show that the ranking of impacts of the three energy systems considered in the case study analysis is not affected by the level of regionalisation of the analysis. In the case of biomethane energy supply, impacts assessed using national characterisation factors are more than double those obtained with local characterisation factors, with less significant differences in the other two cases. Conclusions The integration of soil quality aspects in life cycle impact assessment methods is a crucial challenge due to the key role of soil conservation in ensuring food security and environmental protection. This approach allows the quantification of land use impacts on SOC stocks, taken as a proxy of soil quality. Further research needs to improve the assessment of land use impacts in LCA are identified, such as the ability to reflect the effects of agricultural and forestry management practices.

Critical reviews and benchmarking Tunisian clinker and cement with life cycle assessment results

Clinker and cement production is an energy-intensive and high resource requirement industry with significant environmental impacts, and yet, there is a dearth of environmental research in Tunisia on its Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Additionally, there is a tendency either to overlook or underestimate the selection of appropriate life cycle impact assessment methods. This study aims to address these issues by conducting a comprehensive LCA of Tunisian cement production with the goal of analyzing and comparing the results using various methods and benchmarking against existing literature. Three different Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) methods, including IMPACT 2002+, CML (baseline), and ReCiPe Midpoint (2008–2016) (H), were used. These methods were chosen for their different coverage (regional/global) of their impact categories, leading to a more comprehensive comparison of the performance of clinker and cement to the literature. In addition, the similarity with published values demonstrates reliability for LCA results, except ionizing radiation, ozone layer depletion, and respiratory organics in IMPACT 2002+ for clinker, CEM-I, and CEM-II; fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity and marine aquatic ecotoxicity in CML (baseline) for CEM-I; and photochemical oxidant formation: ecosystem quality and human health in ReCiPe for CEM-I. This low variability with the reported values in the literature suggests the capability of using the benchmarking approach as a proxy in a context of lack of data.

Environmental impacts of circularity strategies for social distancing plastic shields made of polymethyl methacrylate in the United States.

One application of plastics that grew during the COVID-19 pandemic is for social distancing plastic shields, or protective barriers, made from polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) such as transparent face guards. Although available for other applications, end-of-life impacts for barriers are currently lacking in the literature, and there is a need to fill in this gap to guide decisions. This study evaluated the end-of-life environmental impacts of PMMA barriers in the United States by using life cycle assessment. We evaluated five strategies including landfilling, waste-to-energy, mechanical recycling, chemical recycling and reuse. Data were sourced from literature and various life cycle inventory databases. The Tool for Reduction and Assessment of Chemicals and Other Environmental Impacts (TRACI) was used as the life cycle impact assessment method. Landfilling exhibited the highest impact in all indicators and reuse demonstrated optimal results for global warming potential. A scenario analysis was conducted to explore a combination of strategies, revealing that the most promising approach involved a mix of 40% reuse, 20% mechanical recycling and 40% chemical recycling. Circular economy recommendations are proposed for managing these sources of plastic waste in the United States.

Electrocoagulation in treatment of municipal wastewater– life cycle impact assessment

The purpose of this study is investigation of electrocoagulation (EC) as a treatment of municipal wastewater, integrating life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) for assessing its environmental performance of investigated treatment. The study evaluated the effectiveness of EC in removing physico-chemical and microbial parameters using aluminum (Al) and iron (Fe) electrodes in monopolar and bipolar modes. Bipolar arrangement of Al(−)/Al/Al/Al(+) electrodes achieved the highest removals: 70% COD, 72% BOD5 followed by complete elimination of total phosphorous, turbidity and microbial parameters. This treatment was subject to investigation of the influence of reaction time (t = 10–60 min) on removals at higher current density (CD = 3.33 mA/cm2). In order to reduce energy consumption, the same reaction time range was used with a reduced CD = 2.33 mA/cm2. Following removal efficiencies obtained: 47–72% COD (higher CD) and 53–78% (lower CD); 69–75% BOD5 (higher CD) and 55–74% CD (lower CD); 12–21% NH4− (higher CD) and 7–22% NH4− (lower CD). Total P, NO3− and NO2− compounds showed the same removals regardless the CD. Decrease in current density did not influence removals of total suspended matter, turbidity, salinity as well as microbial parameters. The bipolar arrangement of Al(−)/Al/Al/Al(+) electrodes, assuming a lower CD = 2.33 mA/cm2 and t = 30 min, was assessed with the Recipe 2016Midpoint (H) and USEtox v.2 LCIA methods to explore the environmental justification of using EC for wastewater treatment. The LCIA results revealed that the EC process significantly reduces water eutrophication and toxicity for freshwater and marine ecosystems, but has higher impacts in global warming, fossil fuel consumption, human toxicity, acidification, and terrestrial ecotoxicity due to high energy consumption. This can be mainly explained by the assumption in the study that the EC precipitate is dispersed to agricultural soil without any pre-treatment and material recovery, along with relatively high energy consumption during the process.

Are Existing LCIA Methods Related to Mineral and Metal Resources Relevant for an AESA Approach Applied to the Building Sector? Case Study on the Construction of New Buildings in France

Considering the challenges that mineral and metallic resources represent for the building sector, there is a need to propose decision-support tools to building stakeholders. One of the possibilities could be to integrate an indicator of pressure on mineral resources in an absolute environmental sustainability assessment (AESA) approach, using life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods. This paper will analyze the existing LCIA indicators that can be used to represent the impact on mineral resources of new constructions, with a case study on new buildings in France in 2015. This analysis aims to find out whether the existing LCIA methods dealing with mineral and metallic resources issues are adapted to the specific stakes of the building sector in an AESA approach. The AESA approach considered is the one proposed by Bjørn and Hauschild. Several steps are detailed in this paper. Firstly, bibliographic research was carried out to identify existing LCIA methods related to the mineral resources. Secondly, selection criteria were defined in order to select those LCIA methods relevant for the building sector. Thirdly, the scope of the case study was defined and its inventory analysis was conducted using the Ecoinvent 3.5 database, selecting only the mineral and metallic input flows. Finally, the comparison between the inventory of mineral and metallic flows issued from the inventory analysis and the substances considered in the selected LCIA methods was effected. The results show that none of the existing LCIA methods are compatible with the aim of developing an LCIA indicator for mineral and metallic resources that is compatible with an AESA approach, in particular for the building sector.

Reevaluating the Land Use Impact of a Li-ion Battery Related Mining Project, A Case Study of Greenbushes Mine

The mining industry plays a pivotal role in the global transition towards clean energy, driven by the escalating demand for critical elements like lithium. However, this growth raises profound environmental concerns, particularly regarding land use, global warming potential, water consumption, acidification, eutrophication, and toxicity. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has historically relied on approximations and theoretical methods, resulting in systematic underestimations of these impacts. This study begins to address part of this discrepancy by leveraging remote sensing technologies to gather empirical evidence. Focusing on the Greenbushes mining site in Australia, a comprehensive investigation was conducted to quantitatively evaluate the direct land use impact from satellite imagery over the life of the project. Comparative analyses were performed against various mid-point Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) methods. The findings unequivocally reveal a substantial under-reporting of the land use impact, highlighting the critical need for more accurate assessments in the context of mining activities. This research underscores the importance of empirical data in refining our understanding of the environmental footprint associated with mining operations, particularly in the critical context of clean energy transition. The study emphasises the imperative to reevaluate and adjust existing approaches to accurately account for the full scope of environmental impacts associated with mining operations.

An endpoint model for life cycle impact assessment in China and preliminary normalization values: A case study of vehicles

Life cycle assessment (LCA) has become a vital tool for selecting and developing green products to support decision-making. While there are various regional evaluation models for conducting life cycle impact assessment (LCIA), which is one of the key steps in LCA, a systematic LCIA model is still lacking in China. In this study, we propose an endpoint damage model for LCIA. We focus on three endpoint damage categories and eleven environmental impact categories based on local characteristics in China. By using the emission factor method, extrapolation method and other methods, the total emission of each pollutant is quantified. Localized per capita normalization values were calculated. Then, the potential value for environmental impact (PVEI) is acquired, which could be used to represent the impact of pollutant emissions and resource and energy consumption on the environment. With a base year of 2017, the regional per capita normalization values of human health, ecosystem quality and resources in China are 1.94 × 10−2 DALY, 6.08 × 10−5 species, and 2.47 × 103 MJ, respectively. The developed methodology is validated by applying it to the LCIA of vehicles, and the PVEI of three vehicles is ranked as follows: methanol vehicle (MV) > battery electric vehicle (BEV) > compressed natural gas vehicle (CNGV). The findings support the development of an LCIA method for China. The localization parameters supplement and improve the method of life cycle assessment in China, improve the scientificity of life cycle assessment results, and make the evaluation results more in line with China's actual conditions.

Contribution to inaccessibility as resource impact method: A base for sustainable resource management along the life cycle

The goal of this paper is to present and demonstrate a proof of concept for a novel method that quantifies the impact of human activities that compromise the accessibility to the instrumental value of resources. It identifies ten key matrices along six life cycle stages. Starting from Time To Accessibility as a base, accessibility factors for resources are developed in function of the embedding matrix, scaled in between 0 and 1. The method provides value-based characterization factors for 45 resources as a Contribution To Inaccessibility - Life Cycle Impact Assessment (CTI-LCIA) method and involves price to capture the value. It points to hotspots along the life cycle (e.g. inaccessibility generation by storing in landfills and tailings deposits), the importance of process efficiencies, and the value of circular economy strategies. The latter is illustrated with a case study on four resources in a battery case study.

Biodiversity Impact Assessment Considering Land Use Intensities and Fragmentation.

Land use is a major threat to terrestrial biodiversity. Life cycle assessment is a tool that can assess such threats and thereby support environmental decision-making. Within the Global Guidance for Life Cycle Impact Assessment (GLAM) project, the Life Cycle Initiative hosted by UN Environment aims to create a life cycle impact assessment method across multiple impact categories, including land use impacts on ecosystem quality represented by regional and global species richness. A working group of the GLAM project focused on such land use impacts and developed new characterization factors to combine the strengths of two separate recent advancements in the field: the consideration of land use intensities and land fragmentation. The data sets to parametrize the underlying model are also updated from previous models. The new characterization factors cover five species groups (plants, amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles) and five broad land use types (cropland, pasture, plantations, managed forests, and urban land) at three intensity levels (minimal, light, and intense). They are available at the level of terrestrial ecoregions and countries. This paper documents the development of the characterization factors, provides practical guidance for their use, and critically assesses the strengths and remaining shortcomings.

Towards Sustainable Roads: A Systematic Review of Triple-Bottom-Line-Based Assessment Methods

This review summarizes the methods and approaches for quantifying the sustainability performance of roads based on the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) concept. Furthermore, research gaps and challenges in the sustainability assessment of roads are identified. While prior studies explored the environmental and economic dimensions, no comprehensive overview of holistic sustainability assessment of roads exists. A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to identify relevant studies. Two assessment approaches were identified: (1) life-cycle-based approaches and (2) sustainability rating systems (SRS). Most of the reviewed studies applied life-cycle-based methods, such as Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment or a combination of Life Cycle Assessment, Life Cycle Costing, and selected social indicators. Heterogeneity in functional units was observed, with most studies opting for a dimension-based instead of a function-based reference. There was high variability regarding the life cycle stages, indicators, and impact assessment methods. Concerning the interpretation methods, most studies calculated a sustainability index or applied Multi-Criteria Decision-Making methods. The SRS presented a similar structure with different levels of aggregation. Furthermore, aspects such as planning, leadership, innovation, and construction activities were addressed. The results of this SLR contribute to expanding the knowledge regarding road sustainability and provide insight into common frameworks, guidelines, and best practices for the sustainability assessment of roads and pavements.

Gadjah Mada University drinking water supply system TOYAGAMA life cycle inventory

TOYAGAMA is the drinking water supply system (DWSS) of Gadjah Mada University. Acknowledging that its production operations have potential environmental and ecological impacts is essential. To ensure sustainable operations, comprehension of these impacts is necessary. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been reported to be an ideal method, but it has never been carried out, Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) is a vital preliminary step. Therefore, this study aims to construct an LCI database for the production of drinking water in TOYAGAMA DWSS, covering the process of raw water intake to treatment. This database could serve as a reference for future LCA studies involving similar technologies and as an overview of its potential impacts. The data collection methods included observation, literature review, and interviews. The collected data focus was carried out from September 26 to November 3, 2022. Organizing and processing were performed using Microsoft Excel and OpenLCA 2.0 Beta. The results showed that TOYAGAMA DWSS consisted of 15 unit processes and an additional 1 non-TOYAGAMA DWSS unit process was included in the LCI. Flows recapitulation showed that 15 environmental flows were involved. Evaluation using Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) method Environmental Footprint 3.0 indicated that the production of 1 m3 drinking water contributed to 12 of 28 potential impact categories. Based on the results, to produce 1 m3 of drinking water, 3.35293 MJ of electrical energy and 1.22723 m3 groundwater were required. Furthermore, plastic waste had the highest potential impact, with a total of 5 impacts.

A Review on Life Cycle Assessment of Pavements in Brazil: Evaluating Environmental Impacts and Pavement Performance Integrating the International Roughness Index

This article addresses the limited understanding of the landscape regarding Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in Brazilian pavement infrastructure. It provides an overview of LCA’s application in assessing the environmental effects of pavements while exploring the use of the International Roughness Index (IRI) as a performance criterion to assess environmental consequences and pavement performance. A comprehensive search for relevant quantitative LCA studies, published from 2013 to 2023, was conducted across several bibliographic databases, following ISO 14040 standards. A total of fourteen case studies were analyzed, providing insight into frequently used software, databases, Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) methods, and functional units. Furthermore, global warming or greenhouse gases (GHG) were the most frequently used environmental indicators, while materials, transportation, and construction were the most inventoried life cycle phases. However, the search also highlighted limitations, including the availability of Brazilian data and scope definition. Nevertheless, a quantitative comparison between conventional pavements showed a low standard deviation. The scenarios studied demonstrated that using recycled materials in pavement construction and employing high-strength materials in layers and subgrade can reduce environmental impacts. In conclusion, these findings contribute to the development of sustainable pavement practices in Brazil and highlight the need for further research to validate current findings and address existing gaps.

A new life cycle impact assessment methodology for assessing the impact of abiotic resource use on future resource accessibility

PurposeAbiotic resource is included as an impact category in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). The most widely accepted LCIA method is abiotic resource depletion potential (ADP). However, numerous studies have illustrated the limitations of the ADP method, such as the neglect of resources that can be recycled. This paper aims to develop a comprehensive and objective method for assessing the impact of resource use on future generations, which can be used at different stages of the life cycle.MethodsBased on the above research objectives, this paper proposes a new method, the abiotic resource expected dissipation potential (AEDP) method, for assessing the impacts of current resource use on the abiotic resource accessibility. The method is divided into four impact categories based on different endpoints of the dissipative flow and replaces the resource extraction rate with the global annual dissipation rate and adds anthropogenic stocks to the total reserves, resulting in the characterization factor AEDPs. Finally, the four impact categories are weighted to obtain a final impact score for resource use.ResultsResults of the new method are presented as a multi-dimensional reflection of natural reserves, dissipation rates, and extraction rates of resources. The comparison between AEDPs and ADPs revealed differences between them, but they were not significant. A higher power of the total reserves in the AEDP formula can overemphasize the effect of natural reserves on the characterization factor. Furthermore, other natural reserve data was used as alternative indicators in the sensitivity analysis.ConclusionThe new assessment method enables the future impacts of abiotic resource use to be more accurately assessed. It can be used at any life cycle stage to support relevant stakeholder decision-making. However, a broader database is required to be developed to calculate more characterization factors. Moreover, the over-dominance of reserve data in the characterization factors overshadows the influence of other dimensions. Consequently, further research is necessary to improve the operability and plausibility of this method.

Characterizing human health damage from ionizing radiation in life cycle assessment

PurposeAlthough a wide number of industrial processes routinely release radionuclides into the environment, the resulting potential impacts on human health have been largely overlooked in life cycle assessment (LCA). As part of the Life Cycle Initiative project on Global Guidance for Life Cycle Impact Assessment Indicators and Methods (GLAM), we aim to develop a consensus-based source-to-damage framework and factors for characterizing human health damage from ionizing radiation in LCA.MethodsOur framework comprises four modules. The fate and exposure modules are based on UCrad, an earlier developed compartment-based environmental model for radionuclides. The focus of the present work is on the dose response and severity modules, which are based on most recent data from the International Committee on Radiological Protection and the Global Burden of Disease project series. The characterization factors are expressed in terms of DALY per kBq released.Results and discussionsWe obtain characterization factors for 115 radionuclides and 8 environmental compartments. To evaluate our approach, we compare both effect factors (combining dose response and severity) and characterization factors with those proposed in earlier studies. Our analysis demonstrates that differences are explicable by the different approaches used in the fate and exposure modelling. We also test the sensitivity of our factors to different approaches for filling data gaps, suggesting that our factors are robust. Finally, we apply our factors in an illustrative case study on rice production and consumption under various scenarios to identify dominant radionuclides and how these differ when other approaches are used.ConclusionsOur framework is aligned with widely adopted methodologies for human health impact assessment, thus enabling robust comparisons, and covers nearly all radionuclides released by anthropogenic activities, including those that may arise from disposal of nuclear waste. Our factors are readily applicable for assessing radionuclide emissions in LCA. As next step we recommend (i) incorporating decay products into the fate model and (ii) integrating a model for indoor emissions of radon and indoor exposure to naturally occurring radionuclides (NORM).

Integrating ecosystem services and life cycle assessment: a framework accounting for local and global (socio-)environmental impacts

PurposeHuman activities put pressure on our natural ecosystems in various ways, such as globally through the spread of emissions or locally through the degradation of species-rich landscapes. However, life cycle assessment (LCA) studies that integrate ecosystem services (ES) are still in the minority because of intrinsic differences in data, modelling, and interpretation. This study aims to overcome these challenges by developing and testing a framework that comprehensively evaluates the (socio-)environmental impacts of human activities.MethodsLCA and ecosystem services assessment (ESA) were integrated in two different ways: (1) both methodologies run in parallel and results are combined, and (2) LCA as a driving method where ES are integrated. Because local ESA studies contain the most accurate information but will not be available for all processes in the value chain, it was necessary to advance the life cycle impact assessment method ReCiPe 2016 including three new midpoint impact categories (terrestrial provision, regulation, and cultural ES) and site-generic CFs based on the Ecosystem Services Valuation Database to account for changes in regulating, cultural and provisioning ES due to land use, for the remaining processes in the value chain. Monetary valuation is used to aggregate at the areas of protection (AoP).Results and discussionA comprehensive LCA+ES-ESA sustainability assessment framework is developed to account for local and global impacts due to human activities on three AoPs (natural resources, ecosystem quality, and human health and well-being), of which the results are expressed in monetary terms. The framework is able to visualize all benefits and burdens accounted for through the handprint/footprint approach. A simplified terrestrial case study on Scots pinewood shows the applicability of the proposed framework, resulting in a handprint (€2022 9.81E+02) which is four times larger than the footprint (€2022 2.31E+02) for 1 kg of wood produced. Challenges related to the framework such as data availability and database shortcomings (i.e., beyond land use) and ES interrelations are discussed.ConclusionWhile classical LCA studies focus more on burdens, this framework can also take into account benefits, such as the provision of ecosystem services (or the value of the functional unit of the study). Although the integration of both LCA and ESA has been increasingly explored recently, until now no framework has been available that can incorporate results from local ESA, site-specific ESA, and classical LCA studies, which is considered highly relevant to decision-making.

Correlation analysis of life cycle impact assessment methods and their impact categories in the food sector: representativeness and predictability of impact indicators

Correlation analysis of life cycle impact assessment methods and their impact categories in the food sector: representativeness and predictability of impact indicators